Grandpa, a Story!
by Mad J-J
Summary: An old man tells a story to his grandson about adventure, love and redemption.
1. Chapter 1

This is the first fanfic I ever post in English, which is not my first language... I hope you like it!

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The old man sat by the fire. He was tired, but happy with his day. Grandchildren would do that to you: an exhausting day spent in laughter and joy. Now that the sun was set, calm finally returned to his home. But he was more interested in what tomorrow would bring that the night of rest. Another day spent with his grandchildren. Maybe they would go for a walk in the forest. He had so many secret paths he wanted to show them.

For now, he should return to his bedroom… But the embers still glowing caught his gaze and he was too busy thinking to feel the need for a rest to notice the presence in the corner of the room.

"Grandpa?"

He quickly turned his look towards the child.

"Oh. I didn't see you there little one. Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I couldn't. I was thinking."

The old man bend to have a better look at him.

"And what were you thinking of?"

The child remained silent for a moment, his hesitance clear on his stance.

"Today… Mom mentioned… 'Sarah'. But she wasn't talking about Aunt Sarah, was she?" "No she wasn't, he admitted immediately."

He was such a clever little boy. The old man felt as if lying to him would be an insult.

"Then who is it? Who is Sarah?"

The old man sat back in his chair and with a movement of his hand, showed him the floor where the little boy sat on the old and comfortable rug.

"Did you know, began the old man, that the name 'Sarah' means 'Princess'?"

The boy shook his head.

"Sarah was a princess. She was beautiful and smart, and had an unbridled imagination. She was however, an adolescent girl, and every bit of a brat."

The boy laughed at that, covering his mouth with his hand as to not awake his siblings.

"Was she brave and a slayer of dragons?"

"Oh she was brave. And had the dragons still be around when she was born, be sure that she would have been the first on a horse with a spear and a cry and a hunger for justice. But she didn't battle with dragons, no. The disaster that plagued her time was an evil king."

The boy awed at that, his eyes round and bright in the firelight.

"An evil king? Is that like an evil stepmother in fairy tales?"

The old man laughed, trifling the sound before it could break the silence of the house.

"In a way, you could say so, I imagine. Sarah had a stepmother, but she wasn't an evil one."

The child frowned.

"But stepmothers are always evil! That's the rule!"

"Is it, really?"

"Well, I mean… What about Cinderella? And Snow White? And Hansel and Gretel? They all had wicked stepmothers!"

"Yes, that is exactly what Sarah thought."

The old man lost his gaze once again in the fire. He took the poker and stirred it to avoid the death of their light.

"Grandpa, what about the king?", asked the boy who could no longer wait after fifteen minutes of silence. "Yes, well, the king. He was evil, or so thought Sarah. He took babies away from their families…"

"Like Rumpless… Rumpli…Runpeliss…"

"Rumpelstiltskin."

"Yes, him! Like him? And like the bogeyman?"

"Yes, in a way. But as I was saying, he took the babies away from their families when they no longer wished to take care of them."

"But why would a king want to take babies away?"

"Why do you think?"

The boy frowned again in deep concentration.

"Well, because he is evil."

"That would make sense."

"And did the Princess go and strike him down with a big sword and there was lots of blood and he cried because it hurt? Or was she one of the lousy princess that sit around and wait for someone else to slay the monsters?"

"She didn't strike him with a sword, no. But she didn't sit around either."

"What did she do then?"

The boy was bouncing up and down with excitation.

"I will only tell you if you calm down, young man. We wouldn't want the others to wake up now, huh?"

"No, Grandpa."

"Good. The king ruled over a city that was beyond walls and walls, and the way to the main doors of this city was so intricate that his kingdom was called the Labyrinth."

"The Labyrinth?", asked the child, in awe. "So complex and so large that it would take days for the fools that tried to enter it to solve it. And even those who could find their way only returned to the entrance. Very few were those who could brave the giant walls and the dangers deep into the maze and finally enter the city."

"But Sarah did?"

"Oh, she thought she could, at any rate. For the king had taken something from her and she was set on stopping his wrong doings."

"How did she solve the Labyrinth?"

"She loved to read."

The boy's face crunched at that. He didn't like books, that was for sure. He preferred stories told and showed better than the ones written and read.

"How could that have helped her?"

"She knew every trick that one should know about solving Labyrinth because of her books. How to remember where she had turned, how to decide where to turn and when to stop or go back to where she begun. For the way forward is not always the fastest."

The old man stopped his narrating for a moment, letting him meditate on his words.

"She was not alone either. Over the years, several persons found their way into the Labyrinth. And some of them actually decided to live in it. The king let them, at the condition of stopping anyone who would want to go through the maze. Sometimes they would attack them. Other times they would trick them into thinking that they led them in the right direction. Sometimes they wouldn't even show themselves, setting traps and riddles for the runners of the maze."

"But she didn't let herself be tricked, did she?"

"Well, sometimes she did. But as I said, she wasn't always alone. For with her own wit and charms and gentleness, she tricked them as well, sometimes making them her friends. Her first friend was a dwarf, a scrimpy and lonesome being. Then she soothed a giant and hairy beast with a simple mind and a gentle soul. Her third and last companion was a small but proud knight, even more fearless than the Princess, even though she was three times as tall as he."

"But wasn't the king mad?"

"He was. That's why he used other ways to get to her. He showed her her dreams, as an attempt to distract her from her goal, but it didn't work. He resorted to meaningless but pricy gifts, but she merely glance at them before she was back on her tracks. As tempted as she could have want all of what he offered, she was way too stubborn to admit it."

"The old king could not defeat her! Sarah was too smart!"

"Oh, I would not call him old. He was, in fact, quite in shape. That is why he tried to seduce her."

Disgust was written on the child's face as the words were out of his grandfather's mouth. The boy strangled a noise in the back of his throat as if he almost barfed.

"Grandpa, gross!"

"I am just telling you the story, little one!", laughed the old man. "But that is… Wrong! He is… And she is… She's a princess! The villain should not try to… S-seduce the hero of the story!"

"Why not?"

"Because… because… Gross!"

"I think you made that quite clear already."

The round and young face of the boy was still crunched in repugnance.

"He is evil. He should try to kill her. Or to trap her in a tower and she would be all awesome and kick his butt and save the day because she's brave and smart!"

"So you think it is braver to face something that is trying to kill or harm you, than to battle against something that hides its evil behind temptation and an attractive façade?"

The boy opened his mouth as if to answer affirmatively, then shut it to re-open it quickly. Not a sound made out of him as he reflected on his grandfather's words.

"I… I don't know."

"I think I am going to make some tea. My throat is rather parched. Do you want anything?"

"No, thank you Grandpa."

The old man got up, his knees cracking from the motion. He didn't plan on this little story time, but he was fully enjoying it.

"Oh wait Grandpa, before you go: tell me, she did resist, didn't she?"

The old man had a malicious grin and made a few steps towards the kitchen.

"Really parched. I shouldn't talk before my drink."

"But Grandpa!"

The old man turned around, a finger over lips and pointing another towards the room where the siblings of the boy were sleeping.

The child pouted but sat still, his arms crossed and back hunched as he proceeded to some sulking.


	2. Chapter 2

When the old man returned, a cup of tea in his hand, the boy was calm again, waiting eagerly for the rest of the story.

"So, the princess, did she resist?"

"Ah, yes, the princess. Well, As I said before, she really was stubborn. As she travelled through the Labyrinth, she began to see the king for what he truly was. He was extremely smart with his tricks, for it offered the best protection he could hope to give his castle. As Sarah went through the mazes and found her way between walls of old stone, she realised that the king was also extremely lonely."

"Of course he is lonely; he's evil!"

"Oh, that's what Sarah thought at the beginning too. But then she began to change her mind as time went by. The king was a sad soul for he never let anyone close to him, but most of what he did, he did it to protect himself, and he did it following the ancient rules of his kingdom."

The boy looked confused at his grandfather explanations.

"So… He was not lonely because he was evil… But he was evil because he was lonely?"

One of the old men's brow went up on his forehead.

"I suppose it is a way to see him. That is actually a really clever thing to say, little one."

The child beamed at his comment, his smile brighter than the flames in the chimney.

"As Sarah got to knew the king better, she grew more attracted to him. It is important to say, I think, that the king was in fact a very handsome man."

The boy's face crunched again.

"So she let herself be seduced?"

"Oh no. That would be admitting her feelings to herself, and the princess was too stubborn for that. When the king tried to convince her, she did not flinch, overcoming his last trial. She finally reached the heart of castle where she uncovered her price."

"A big treasure with gold and crowns and swords?"

"Ah, no, something far more precious."

The eyes of the grandson gleamed with amazement, until the grandfather revealed:

"It was her younger brother, the prince."

"What? Her brother?"

"Yes. She had wished him away to the king before she realised her mistake."

"But… She… He…"

The boy's confusion was clear as day in his eyes.

"She wished her brother away?"

"Yes, she did. As I told you, Sarah was every bit of the teenager she was. In a fit of anger, she had asked for the king to take her brother away. The king obliged, but Sarah realised her mistake and wanted her brother back. However, the rules of the king's kingdom were to keep her brother within his castle's walls at every cost, for if someone broke into the castle's walls, the king would be left vulnerable."

The old me remained quiet, watching as his grandson thought about the story.

After a while, the child finally spoke:

"If Sarah did that, if she wished her brother away… And if the evil king… If the king just wanted to protect himself… Is she really the hero?"

The grandfather smiled.

"That would be to you to decide, little one. It is a story of redemption, of love and of adventures. Now, whose it is… It's a choice you have to make."

Silence settled down a little more while the child thought again about what his grandfather had said.

"And then, after she gets her brother back?"

"The king had fallen in love with her by the time she reached the heart of the castle. When she found her brother, she had no reason to stay, and so he begged her, he told her he would make himself her slave to have her stay at his side. But the princess was still young and impetuous. She did not believe in her feelings for him or in his feelings for her, and she left. The king was so heartbroken his lost his powers overs the Labyrinth."

The grandfather took a sip from his cup, his eyes lost in the fire. The child looked at him expectantly, waiting for another word, but nothing came. He lost patience and asked:

"And then?"

"And then what?", answered the old men. "Then what?", insisted the child. "What?", the old man seemed confused. "What 'what'?", said the boy, surprised.

The child became frustrated as his grandfather could only offer him a lack of response.

"What happened after she left him?"

"What do you think happened?"

The boy seemed completely lost. He had no idea what would happen next.

"I… I don't know. Don't they… Don't they end up together?"

"I thought you found it was… What was your choice of word? 'Gross'."

"No! I mean it is!", he corrected quickly. "It just that I… It's how it is supposed to end, isn't it? 'They lived happily ever after'."

"Do you want it to have a happily ever after?"

"Yes!", replied the boy without hesitation.

A small laugh escaped the old man's beard, and he continued:

"Several years later, the king was still stricken with grief over his rejected love. His kingdom had lost its flourish. Babies that were rejected by their parents had to be abandoned before the king's subjects took them to the kingdom. In her own kingdom, Sarah had grown. She was more beautiful and clever than before, but more than anything, she had become mature. As the princess, she had responsibilities. One day, she heard of the fallen kingdom. She realised it was her responsibility to take, for when she had entered the heart of the castle, she had claimed half of what the kingdom. As she was young, she did not realise the meaning of her claim."

The grandfather caught and took another sip of his cup. It would soon be empty.

"She decided, with the authorisation of her father the king and of her step-mother the queen, to visit the fallen kingdom. Upon her horse, she entered the dark forest which marked the separation between the fallen kingdom and her. As she progressed through the trees, it was as if life was coming back to the forest. The birds flew, announcing her return. Soon, the three friends she made were back. The dwarf, who was no longer alone, the giant with a gentle soul and the small and courageous knight. They escorted her to the king. When he saw her, his pride had been wounded, so he was imperious in his welcoming. He declared that if she wanted to repair the damage she had done, she had to marry him to unite their respective kingdoms."

The grandfather took the last sip of his cup, watching as the boy's eyelids seemed to become heavier and heavier.

"Sarah was a princess and she knew her duty, but she still was every bit as stubborn as before. She declared they could get married, but only if they got to know each other before."

"And did they get marry? whispered the boy who had trouble staying awake."

"Maybe. One thing his sure, declared the old man as his joint cracked when he got up from his chair."

"What?"

"You, little one, have to go to bed."

The child yawned a protests as he got up and returned to the bedroom he shared with the other grandchildren of the old man.

He smiled as he watched him return to the embrace of the night, away from the dying light of the fire. He should get to bed, decided the old man. Sarah always scolded him when stayed up late. He wondered if she had watched him tell her – albeit altered – story. He'd visit her in his dreams tonight, and he'd visit her friends and her king. He had to tell her all about her grand-nephews.


End file.
